Conceived on the Fourth of July (title pending)
by Dimples
Summary: Set two years after the divorce, in 2010. Piper had begun to date again, while Leo tries to forget by burying himself in work. When Piper goes to pick up the kids and finds Leo alone, the product of a one night stand could either rip them apart or bring t


Conceived on the Fourth of July

            The sky lit up in a ball of fire, preceded by a tremendous bang that shook Piper's eardrums as she clenched Jacob's sleeve even tighter. The 'ooh's and 'aah's of the crowd were drowned out as the final firework exploded in a brilliant blend of red, white and blue. 

            "That was amazing, Jacob," Piper said as she kissed her new beau lightly on the cheek. "The Fourth of July has never been so exciting." 

            Jacob smiled back at her, his perfect teeth glinting as the last spark faded in the night. He was tall. Taller than Leo had been, which made her feel even more safe with him. In the few weeks they had been seeing each other, Leo was only mentioned once, and then the item was dropped. Former spouses were not good topics of conversation for divorcees. "Yeah, it was pretty great."  He kissed the top of her head and took her hand as he led the way back to the car. "You have to pick up Mel and Prue tonight, right?"

            Piper nodded. "Yeah."

            "So why don't I drive you there and save you a trip out? It's not far out of the way and then we can make plans for tomorrow." Jacob turned the keys in the ignition and his late model thunderbird roared to life. "I don't even have to come in with you. I'll wait in the car."

            "I can't ask you to do that. As soon as I walk in that door, Leo-" She paused as Jacob flinched visibly. "My ex will just try to pick a fight, and we'll be there forever. You have to work in the morning, and I don't want to keep you up while I argue with him." 

            Jacob sighed and consented to dropping her off at home. The ride was silent, and as they pulled up to the pink house at Prescott and Pine, Piper longed for him to come in with her, just so she didn't have to face Leo yet again. "Well, I had a great time." She kissed him lengthily on the lips, taking in the scent of his aftershave. "I'll call you tomorrow. Around five, as usual." She slipped out of the car and pulled her keys out of her purse. They same dark Jeep still sat listlessly on the drive, covered in dirt and rusting at the bottom. She had been meaning to buy a new car since the divorce, but never found the time or money to go through with it. P3 was floundering, even with the support she was getting from the local newspapers. It was hard to keep up on the bills. Electricity, gas, utility, it all added up and her sisters were none too keen on giving up their hard earned money. 

            Piper rolled her eyes as she noticed the majority of the lights in the manor were on. She unlocked the Jeep's door and stepped in, hesitating to start the car and make the short drive over to Leo's. Heaving, she gave in and let the car roll gently into the street and down the block.

***

            Fifteen minutes passed by quickly, and she found herself parking outside her ex-husband's two story brown Victorian home. She looked at the clock and saw she was late, by at least an hour. _Damn, she thought. __I should have called. She made her way up the cement path to the door and knocked sharply. It opened seconds later, revealing Leo's face still as young as it had been the day they met. _

            "What the hell are you doing here?"

            "Cut the crap, Leo. I'm just here to pick up the kids."

            "Well they're not here."

            Piper's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, they're not here?"

            "Exactly what I said. They're not here. They went to a fourth of July party at a friend's house." Leo opened the door more to let her inside. She pushed past him roughly, stamping her muddy shoes all over his wood floors. 

            "Well, then you should have told me. I wasted a trip down here to pick them up. It's my weekend to have them, Leo. You're lucky the judge even granted you visitation every other weekend. If you want to keep seeing them then you need to exercise some of your communications skills." Piper crossed her arms over her chest, her cheeks flushed with anger. 

            "I did call you. You wouldn't answer your cell." Leo paled at the threat of not being able to see his children.

            "That's what voice mail is for!" Piper shouted. "God, this is what I get for marrying a dead guy from the forties. You can't even figure out modern technology."

            "Hey, I gave you two great kids and all you ever did was complain that I wasn't there. You knew what the possibilities were when you agreed to marry me, so don't even think about trying to blame this on me."

            "But you _weren't ever there! Damn it, Leo, your children grew up without a father. They'd go to bed each night and say, 'where's Daddy, I want to kiss Daddy goodnight too'. You threw that away, Leo. You threw away the things that mattered most to you." The tears in Piper's eye prevented her from seeing Leo creep closer to her, and when he pressed his lips against hers she jumped in surprise. She felt the warmth of his body against hers, a passionate moment that they hadn't shared in over two years. Her mind told her to pull away, but her heart resisted and she melded her mouth into his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. _

Leo traced her jaw with his kisses, tugging at her shirt with one hand. She reached down and unbuttoned it for him, then pushed it onto the floor, leaving her clad in only her white lace brassiere. She pulled at the red plaid flannel shirt that he wore and it came off easily. He let go of her momentarily to lift his white undershirt over his head, then resumed kissing her. He picked her up off the ground walked quickly into his bedroom down the hall. Leo dropped her heavily onto the bed and crawled up next to her.             

"I've missed you," Leo whispered. He leaned over her and laid his chest against hers, skin to skin, melting into one as they welcomed the night together.

***

            Piper woke up the next morning as the sun splashed light into her eyes. The room around her was unfamiliar, and she sat up quickly, confused. Then she remembered.

            She had spent the night with Leo.

            She groaned silently and looked to her right. Her ex-husband lay on his stomach, the thin sheet on the bed just barely covering his naked rear. Appraising the situation, she slipped quietly into the hallway and picked up her trail of clothing. She replacing them hurriedly and crept out the door, her head hung dismally. 

            _How could I have been so stupid? What was I thinking? What was he __thinking? I'm never going to live this down. She reached her car and pulled the overnight parking ticket off of her windshield. "Great," she said aloud. "I really needed this, today of all days." Speeding off down the road, she thought about Mel and Prue. She still had to pick them up. "Oh well. Leo can have them for a few days. I need to think things through before they come home."_

            The manor was quiet when she got home later. "Phoebe?" she called. "Paige? Cole?" 

            "In here!" A female voice answered from the kitchen. Paige and Phoebe were at the table, reading different sections of the paper together. Paige looked up as she walked in. "And where were you last night? Did you and Jacob have a little fun? Hmm?" 

            Piper hesitated, unsure if she wanted to tell them what happened. They had always been opposed to the divorce, and this would only give them false hopes. Instead, she smiled coyly and said, "Maybe."

            "Oooh, Piper got some! Piper got some!" Phoebe chanted as she stood up and wrapped her arms around her sister's neck. "It's about time! It's good that you're getting out. Forget about Leo. He's scum."

            "Absolutely," Paige put in falsely. "You and Jakey are great together, and the girls like him."

            Piper scowled. "His name is Jacob. Speaking of girls, where's Penny?" 

            Phoebe smiled. "Cole took her to the zoo this morning. Oh, she was so excited, you should have seen her, Piper. Her eyes were just sparkling. Like mother, like daughter."

            Cole had married Phoebe not long after Melinda was born, and announced that they were going to have a baby a month later. Penny was born just before Prue, so the two were very close. 

            "Hey, sorry. I'm sure it was great. Look, I'm really tired, so If you guys don't want to bug me about anything else, I'm going to take a nap." Piper started up the stairs.

            "Yeah, I bet you're tired. Jakey looks a guy with some stamina." Paige winked at Piper slyly and went back to her newspaper. 

            The eldest sister rolled her eyes and marched off to her bed.

***One Month Later***

            "Piper, you really need to see a doctor. You've been sick for days." Paige held Piper's hair back as she threw up a final time.

            "I'm fine. It's just a virus." But she knew better. Piper had looked at her calendar  a dozen times, and each time it said the same thing. She was ten days late. She'd been through enough of those situations to know what that meant. 

            She was pregnant. 

            "I still think you ought to go to a doctor. Maybe they can give you something." Paige helped her sister to her feet and handed her a towel. "Just go, Piper. It'll help."

She stepped out of the cramped bathroom and past Phoebe, who was leaning against the doorframe.

            "You're not sick, and you know it."

            Piper gazed at her pathetically. "What am I going to do, Pheebs? I've never been so scared in my life."

            "You tell Jacob what happened."

            The words stung, and Piper was left with no choice but to tell her sister the truth. "I… I never slept with Jacob, Phoebe. It's not his baby."

            "So you lied to us? You said that you had spent the night with him." Phoebe's voice was lowering to a hiss, which made Piper take a quick step back.

            "No, I never said I spent the night with him. You asked if Jacob and I took our relationship to the next level and I said maybe. You assumed that meant yes." 

            Phoebe wrinkled her nose. "Fine. Small details aside, you're still pregnant, Piper. Who's the father?"

            "I-I…uh…well, I think it might be…umm…Leo." 

            "LEO??!!-"

            Piper clapped her hand over Phoebe's mouth. "Yes, and if you don't mind I'd like to tell him before I go telling the nosey neighbors." She let her hand down and Phoebe's eyes went wide.

            "How? Well, not how, but when? And _why?_

            Piper sighed. "The fourth of July. I went to pick up Mel and Prue, and Leo had sent them to a party without telling me. We started to argue and he kissed me. I let it go too far, and now I have to pay the price."

            "Are you going to keep it?"

            "Of course I'm going to keep it. I just don't know how to tell Leo. Or Jacob for that matter. I really like him, Pheebs. I don't want to lose him over this." Piper flopped down on the toilet and threw the towel into the bathtub. 

            "I don't think you'll have much choice there, honey. You cheated on him. With your ex-husband. And you got pregnant because of it. That's a big deal." 

            A tear dripped down Piper's cheek. "Yeah, I know."

***

            "Mel! Prue! Come on, your father is waiting!" Piper tapped her foot impatiently as the two girls bounded down the stairs. They dodged her and made a beeline for the car. "Wait, where are your bags?!"

            The girls giggled and locked themselves in the car. Piper could see Prue  saying something, and then their luggage appeared in the backseat in a blaze of blue light. Piper rolled her eyes and got into the car. She turned around to look at them directly. "One day 

you're going to get caught doing that, and when it happens, don't you dare come crying to me."

            They giggled again. Mel removed her hand from her mouth and smiled at her mother. "You told us to practice our magic, Mommy. Prue just wanted to see if she could do it. That's the farthest she's ever called for something. Be happy."

            Piper grinned. "Yeah, I did tell you that, didn't I? Well, next time be a little more discrete, okay?" As she backed out of the driveway, Piper heard them whisper, "Dis-what?"

            As soon as the car was stopped outside Leo's house, Mel and Piper ran for the door. "I'm gonna beat ya!"

            "Nuh-uh!"

            Piper watched as Leo greeted them warmly, hugging each of them tightly before glancing up at Piper, who was leaning against the hood of her car. 

            "You guys go inside. I want to talk to Mommy for a minute." Leo patted Mel on the back and the girls went inside. Leo came down the walk, his hands in his pockets. "Piper, we need to talk."

            "More than you know."

            "Right. Listen, about that night, I'm sorry I-" Leo began.

            "It's just as much my fault, so don't apologize. I came here today because I need to ask you something. That night, did you-"

            Leo cut her off abruptly and finally as he said, "I still love you, Piper."

            She remained motionless for a moment, half expecting him to kiss her, but he didn't. "I'd hoped you wouldn't say that."

            He furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why? I know you love me, too, so why don't you just say it and we'll start over again. From scratch. No strings attached."

            "Because we can't start from scratch when I know you so well, Leo. It just won't work." She shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. _This is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought._

_            "Then I'll change! I'll clip my wings, I'll become a mortal! Just say that you still love me. Please." Leo took her hand and gripped it tightly._

            Piper lowered her head, afraid her would see the truth in her eyes. _What'll he do if I tell him? Ask me to marry him all over again? Ask me to put myself and my children through hell again? I can't do that. But he does deserve to know. "Do you remember what happened that night, Leo?" He nodded. "We were in such a hurry. You didn't use protection. I…I'm pregnant."_

            Leo's mouth opened in a stricken 'O'. His eyes softened and his grip on her hand loosened. "I love you, Piper."

            Piper pulled her hand away. "Leo, don't."

            "I've never stopped loving you. Please, marry me. Again."

            "No, Leo, you know I can't." Piper began to cry, her words stuttered as she lost control. "I don't love you like I once did. It's different now."

            "But it doesn't have to be! I _could become mortal. I'd do it for you, for our children, our baby. Please don't turn me away from them."_

            "It's not just about them, Leo. It's about me. I've been seeing other people, another man, and I can't just leave him because you want to marry me." Piper wrung her hands together and looked up. She saw her daughters watching them from the window. 

            "Does he know? About your powers? Mel and Prue's powers? I fought for you once, Piper, I'll do it again. He will never understand. Not only that, you're pregnant with another man's child. How well is that going to go over with him? Not very, and you know it. He will never love you like I can, will, and do. Jesus, Piper why can't you see that?"

            "I  do see it, Leo. But at least he'll be there for me when I need him." _I hope. She turned sharply on her heel and got back into her car. Leo followed and grabbed onto the door at the open window._

            "When you tell him, and he freaks out, I'll still be here Piper. Remember that."

            Piper glared at him through her tears. "Let go of my car." He let go and she drove off, leaving him helpless in the middle of the road.

            As she rounded the corner, Piper slowed and pulled over behind a house so Leo wouldn't see her. She laid her head down on the wheel and wept, staining the leather with the salty emotions of her heart.

***

            "Piper! Phone!"

            The shouts from downstairs woke Piper discourteously, and she rolled onto the floor as she reached over to her bedstand. _Wait. What if it's Leo? She had left hours ago. Had it taken him that long to call? Just to make sure, she yelled back at the annoying sister who had wakened her. "Who is it?!"_

            There was a thunderous racket as Phoebe ran up the stairs and burst into her room. "It's Leo!" she hissed. "Did you tell him?" 

            Piper looked at the wet puddles on her pillow and nodded. "Can't you tell?"

            "I thought you looked a little off. Just pick up the phone. He sounds pretty messed up." Phoebe winked at her and closed the door as she left. Piper reached back for the cordless by her bed and stared at it for a moment before pressing the 'ON' button. 

            "What do you want, Leo?"

            "Before you hang up I just wanted to tell you that I love you and no matter what you decide, I'll be there for you. As long as you don't decide to have an abortion. Then I'll just have to sue for custody." His tone was simple, matter-of-fact. And very final.

            "Leo, do you really think I'd have an abortion?" Piper responded a bit too loudly. There was a rustle and a thud outside the door, and then muffled footsteps. She ignored it and returned to yelling at Leo. "If that's what you think, then you don't know me nearly as well as you think you do."

            There was a heavy sigh through the phone. "Well, then I guess my question to reconsider is going to be shot down, huh?"

            "Yes. Now good night, Leo." She turned the phone off before he could say something that would make her cry again. She was sick of crying. 

            "RRRRIIINNNGGGG!!!!!!"

            The cordless shook in her hand and she jabbed the power button roughly, assuming Leo was trying again.

            "WHAT!"

            "Oh, I'm sorry, did I catch you at a bad time?" Jacob's soothing voice penetrated her ears and melted her heart.

            "Uh, no, God, I'm sorry, it's just… we need to talk. Can I meet you somewhere?" Piper blushed even though no one was around to see.

            "Why don't I just come over there? I'm in the neighborhood."

            Piper smiled. He was so considerate. "Really? Where are you?"

            "Park and 2nd."

            "That's no where near here!" Piper cried.

            Jacob laughed. "It'll save you a trip. You haven't been feeling yourself lately anyway."

            She nodded into the phone. "Thanks. I'll see you soon."

            "Bye babe. I love you?"

            He posed it as more of a question than a statement, like he was testing it out to see how it felt. Not really knowing how to answer, she used her older sister's escape from it. "You too."

***

            "I never wanted it to happen."

            Jacob paced Piper's room, his hands clenched angrily behind his back. "But it did, and now you want me to stay with you, after you get pregnant with your ex's kid? You're out of your freaking mind! Why the hell did you tell me this anyway? You could have just ended it over the phone like a normal person. But no, you have to give me every gory detail. I'm sorry, but this is too much."

            "I only wanted to be honest. I'd hoped you'd be a little more forgiving. I made a mistake, I'm sorry."

            "Yeah, you should be sorry." Jacob's face twisted into a knot of frenzied emotion. Anger, pain, sadness, confusion, all rolled into one final expression. "Goodbye, Piper."

            He left her sitting on her bed, with no comfort except humility.

***

            Piper stayed in her room for a week, afraid to face the reality of her situation. She had a choice to make: one, she could have the baby with Leo, get married all over again; two, she could have the baby and raise it on her own, allowing Leo the same visitation rights he had with Mel and Prue; or three, she could have an abortion, against everyone's wishes. The third option wasn't really a choice, it was a last resort, only to be used in a dire circumstance. So, as she lay curled up in her bed, she made up her mind. She would have the baby, and Leo would of course be involved, but she could never marry him. It was just that simple. Never again.

            "So have you made a decision?" Phoebe asked as Piper floated down the stairs later that day.

            "Yeah, I have, actually. I'm gonna raise it on my own. Leo doesn't need to marry me just because he knocked me up. We went through that once already. It didn't work." Piper took the cup of coffee Phoebe was carrying and drank deeply. "Ugh, what is this, diesel?"

            Phoebe snatched the coffee back. "It's my breakfast blend. Get your own… So when are you going to tell Leo?"

            "Tonight, when I go to pick the kids up," Piper flopped onto a stool by the sink and began to dry a dirty plate absently. "And I know what he'll say, too. He'll say I'm not being reasonable, and that I should think it through some more, and that our baby deserves a father. But she will. He'll be there for her, just not all the time."

            Phoebe arched her eyebrows. "She?"

            Piper smiled. "Yeah. I started a trend. Only girls are allowed in this family."

            "So what if it's a boy?"

            "It won't be."

***

            Leo's eyes were cold as he glared at Piper across the room. "This isn't right, Piper. You can't do this to me."

            "Yes, I can, Leo. I'm not going to let myself get hurt again by marrying you just because I'm pregnant. It's my choice, not yours. Besides, you'll still get to see her as often as you get to see Mel and Prue. Don't worry about it."

            "It's you that I'm worried about, Piper. I don't want you to go through this alone just because I hurt you once before. I can change. I have changed." Leo rested his forehead in the palms of his hands.

            Piper leaned forward and held his chin up so he would look at her. "You could never change in the way that your family needs you to."

            "I already have. I clipped my wings, Piper. For you. For us."

            She let her hand fall slowly into her lap, her head pounding and her ears ringing. _He actually did it. Shit, what do I do now? "You shouldn't have done that, Leo."_

            He sprang to his feet in an attempt to seem more powerful. "And why not? It's what you wanted, isn't? For me to be around more often, to spend more time with our children? I did this for you! Don't tell me that I'm wrong when it was the only right thing I can do. Please. Just give me another chance."

            Piper buried her face in her hands, praying that he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. She felt the weight of the two voices in her head, each telling her a different thing

            _Don't do it Piper._

_            Come on, he did it for you_

_            He'll only hurt you again. Don't let him!_

_            He's changed, give him another chance._

_            He's the same!_

_            Different!_

_            The same!_

_            Different!_

_            "Enough!" Piper shouted at the floor, causing Leo to jump back in surprise._

            "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you , I just-" Leo started to speak but Piper stood up and kissed him, cutting him off abruptly. 

            "You deserve that chance, Leo," she whispered as she held him closely. "And I shouldn't be the one to deny you it. You were right, you're the only one I love. Forever and always. Forgive me?"

            "Don't I always? Does this mean you'll marry me?" Hope filled Leo's eyes as he cupped her cheek in his hand.   

            "Yes, Leo. I'd love to marry you."

***

            Eight months later, this article was printed in the San Francisco Daily Tribune in the birth section:

VICTOR HALLIWELL-WYATT, BORN MARCH 15TH, TO PIPER HALLIWELL AND LEO WYATT.

The proud parents gave birth to the bouncing baby boy under the impression that they were having a girl, says one of Ms. Halliwell's sisters. "It was a total shock." The seven pound, nine ounce bundle of joy is what brought the couple back together after a two-year divorce. Mr. Wyatt said after the birth, "It just happened. And I couldn't be happier."

A/N: anyone care for an alternate ending? One with a different outcome? I kept thinking about this, and I thought it would be fun to see two sides of things, just to see what would happen if Piper and Leo didn't end up together in the end. So here it is, ending #2…

            _He's the same!_

_            Different!_

_            The same!_

_            Different!_

_            "Enough!" Piper shouted at the floor, causing Leo to jump back in surprise. _

            "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you-" he stuttered nervously after her outburst, his hands trembling slightly as his left eye twitched spasmodically. 

            "Don't bother trying to explain yourself any more, Leo. I've had enough. I can't marry you, it would just start the cycle all over again, even though you've clipped your wings. You'd just end up working 'til all hours of the night trying to make end's meet, and we'd still never get to see you. I can't do that to my daughters again. To our daughters. And your asking me to do it all again just proves that you can't possibly love them as much as you say you do. I'm sorry that you clipped your wings for nothing, but you should have come to me first. I just hope it's not irreversible. I… I think that I better go now…" Piper grazed his cheek with her index finger and walked slowly around the Jeep, She stepped in the driver's seat and slammed the door hard. She looked back at Leo, who stood a few feet back from the curb, crying. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' and drove away, to start her new life with her children… all three of them.****


End file.
